Opening Files

Use the Open tool to open an existing file in the SolidWorks eDrawings Viewer.

If you open either a read-only file or a file
that is already open in your CAD application or another eDrawings Viewer,
a message box advises you of this. You can open the file as read-only,
but if you try to save changes to it, a message box appears. Click OK to close the message box, and a Save As dialog box appears. You can
then save the file with another name.

The eDrawings Viewer does not display all information
in detached drawing documents. To display all information in a detached
drawing, publish an eDrawings drawing document from SolidWorks, or re-save
the drawing document as a regular (undetached) drawing.

The Open
dialog box displays previews of eDrawings, SolidWorks, and published files
if the files have been saved in 2008 or later applications. The previews
display any changes to custom properties
specified in Windows Explorer.

To open a file:

Click Open or File, Open.

Set the Files
of type to one of the following:

eDrawings
Files (*.eprt, *.easm, *.edrw)

SolidWorks Files (*.sldprt, *.sldasm, *.slddrw)

In the eDrawings Viewer,
you can open any SolidWorks document from SolidWorks 97Plus and higher.

DXF/DWG
Files (*.dxf, *.dwg). eDrawings supports the following:

DXF and DWG
files version 2.5 through 2007.

AutoCAD fonts (SHX),
if AutoCAD® is installed.
Otherwise the text is rendered in a default Simplex font.

Images and OLE
objects in DWG files.

3DXML
Files (*.3dxml)

XML Paper Specification (XPS) Files (*.edrwx, *.eprtx, *.easmx)

You generate XPS files in
SolidWorks with Save As and work
with them in eDrawings the same as eDrawings files.

XPS Viewer is included in the Vista operating system and is distributed
with .NET Framework 3.0, which is installed with SolidWorks on Windows
XP and Server 2003 operating systems.

If eDrawings is installed on a computer, double-clicking an XPS file opens
it in eDrawings rather than in the XPS Viewer.

You can distribute XPS files to users with either the XPS Viewer or the
eDrawings Viewer.

Pro/ENGINEER Files (*.prt, *.asm)

Pro/ENGINEER drawings cannot
be imported.

If a model uses Pro/ENGINEER family table instances, then the XPR and XAS
accelerator instance files must be included for correct results. Although
these instance accelerator files are optional for Pro/ENGINEER, they are
required in eDrawings. When the family table instance modifies the top
level of an assembly, open the XAS file corresponding to that instance,
rather than the ASM file.

Colors in part files are recognized, but colors applied at the assembly
level are not.

Certain Pro/ENGINEER items, such as annotations, sketches, and layers,
are not imported.

STL (*.stl)

SolidWorks
Template Files (*.prtdot, *.asmdot, *.drwdot)

All
Files (*.*). Only the above supported files open in the eDrawings
Viewer.

eDrawings also supports display
of SolidWorks Simulation and SolidWorks SimulationXpress data, when available,
in eDrawings part or assembly files. For more information, see Viewing Simulation
Data.

To open the file as read-only, select Open
as read-only.

Select a file, then click Open.

If you import a DXF/DWG file that has XREFs, eDrawings tries to automatically
resolve the XREF. If the XREF cannot be resolved, the Resolve
XRef dialog box appears. Click Skip
file to import the DXF/DWG file without the XREF file, or navigate
to the XREF file, select it, then click Open
to open it. See DXF/DWG
File XREFs for more information.

Open Parts from Assemblies

You can open parts and sub-assemblies in separate windows from within
assemblies.

To open a part from an assembly:

Right-click a part in the graphics area or
the FeatureManager design tree and select New
Part Document.

To open a sub-assembly from an assembly:

Right-click a sub-assembly in the FeatureManager
design tree and select New Assembly Document.

Custom Properties

You can edit custom properties in SolidWorks
files from Windows Explorer; that is, without opening the files in the
SolidWorks application. The files must have been created in SolidWorks
2008 or later.

To edit custom properties in Windows Explorer:

Right-click a file
in Windows Explorer and select Properties.

Edit properties on
the Custom or Summary
tabs.

Click Apply
and OK.

For example, you can update properties that
are linked to notes in drawings. Changes in the notes then appear in the
drawings and in the previews when the drawings are opened in eDrawings.

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